jon karl is back. >> here we are. we are going to try to see if the five of you in an hour's time can come up with a solution somehow washington seems utterly incapable of coming up with. >> reporter: with that, we got to work. five americans, views ranging from tea party to liberal democrat. could they agree on cuts tallying up to $3 million? that would be enough to reach a deal and break a stalemate. >> one of the proposals out there is to eliminate the memo mortgage deductions. it would be $1 trillion. >> i think it's not a good idea. for many americans that's the only deduction they have. >> i think we shouldn't be doing anything to disincentivize people from buying houses right now. >> how about raising taxes on the wealthy? elelinate the taxes on people making $250,000. you like ha? >> yes. the problem with this is, you're hitting small businesses. >> it's not just small businesses, it's two professional people earning a dual income. it's not going to hurt the economy. >> this will stop investments. >> that's un